FHFA joined the rest of the Biden administration in a government-wide effort to keep renters in their homes, but some stakeholders say one-size-fits-all solutions won’t work.
Chase Home Finance solidified its position as the largest GSE servicer in the second quarter while the servicing portfolio at second-ranked Wells Fargo continued to shrink.
The conservator of Fannie and Freddie argued that the testimonies of two former FHFA directors were irrelevant because they were not at the agency when the Treasury Department agreed to the net worth sweep.
Most of the drop-off in production hasn’t been because borrowers didn’t want to pay high interest rates, an analysis from FHFA showed. It’s because high interest rates have spiked DTI ratios, disqualifying borrowers for a mortgage.
The big winner was the Finovation team, which floated the idea of creating an industry cooperative similar to the Mortgage Electronic Registration System.
Most GSE sellers increased production in the second quarter, though first-half deliveries were still off 60.9% from a year ago. (Includes two data charts.)
Consolidating FHFA’s authority to support fair housing and fair lending laws under the umbrella of the GSEs’ equitable housing finance plans will improve access to mortgage credit for underserved communities, supporters say. The GSEs, however, see key problems.
Lenders have chafed at the temporary regulations put in place following the collapse of a Surfside, FL, condo in 2021, but those rules become permanent in September.
The inclusion of sales data on comparable properties and statistics on the racial and ethnic composition of neighborhoods should allow researchers to better identify incidents of appraisal bias.
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